Ernst Hettrich

Through the amiable genre of the sonatina, generations of piano pupils have slowly and cautiously approached its 'big sister', the sonata. With the aid of our three-volume selection of sonatinas from...

'Do you not know Jean Paul, our great writer? I have learnt more counterpoint from him than from my music teacher'. His 'Vorschule der Ästhetik' with its extensive treatment of humour probably occasio...

To Diotima' - this addendum to the title was preserved until shortly before publication of the piano 'songs' and mystified Schumann's contemporaries. 'The Goddess to whom they are addressed has caused...

In Schumann's middle years there was a longer period in which he favoured larger groups of instruments. Although he composed a few single pieces for piano, they remained unpublished at first. It was o...

The most important source for the fundamentally revised edition is Schumann's hand copy. The poetic motti that Schumann noted at the end of the autograph are reproduced in the appended remarks.

Composed in Vienna in 1838 along with several other shorter pieces, Schumann's Arabesque has found a permanent place in the general piano repertoire. It may owe its lightness and grace to Schumann's u...

Who was 'Pauline, Countess of Abegg', the dedicatee of the first edition? Nowadays it is known that the matter revolves around a romantic mystification of the name of Meta Abegg, a friend from Schuman...

With humor, 'slow and tender, 'extremely brisk': the very expression marks of the op. 12 'Fantasy Pieces' illuminate their musical universe, a kaleidoscope of ideas and moods. Our revised new edition...

The composition cost him his sleep. In October 1842, when Schumann had finished his piano quintet in a short period of time, he was physically and emotionally drained. The work in no way reflects this...

When it came to the genre of the string quartet, Beethoven was a relative latecomer. He was already 28 years old when he obtained the contract for the composition of the Quartets opp. 18 from Prince L...

The string quartet is generally considered as the chamber-music genre of the classical era: invented by Haydn, elaborated by Haydn and Mozart, and brought to its compositional peak by Beethoven. All l...

Spirited', 'dramatic', 'highly expressive', and 'masterly' are among the comments made upon Mendelssohn's String Quartets op. 44 nos 1-3. He wrote them in 1837/1838, at a very happy time: he had just...

Mendelssohn's String Quartet op. 80 is one of his few 'autobiographical' works, a moving musical document of his grief over the death of his sister Fanny and his attempt to artistically process the pa...

Eduard Hanslick, a much feared critic in his time, was not very complimentary following its première: the violin was no longer being played but rather 'pulled about, torn asunder, beaten black and blu...

The vocal works collected in this volume were composed for very different occasions. Several of them were tailor-made for female singers of Beethoven's acquaintance; with others he was trying his hand...

The origin of this concert aria, which is a core piece in the singer's repertoire, is swathed in mystery. We still do not know where Beethoven found the text for the aria. The text for the recitative...

Gloomy premonitions plagued Schumann whilst he was working on his latest composition in 1839. The news that his brother Eduard was dying had deeply shaken him. 'Writing a 'Corpse Fantasy' since Monday...

The Sonata in D major is the last of the Six Sonatas K. 279-284 that Mozart had in his luggage when he set off for Paris in September 1777. He had already successfully performed this music in Munich,...

'I wish to do it to reflect the character of Mad:selle Rose,' Mozart replied when asked how he intended to set out the Andante of his Sonata in C major. In autumn 1777 he had got to know Rosina Cannab...

With the 'Introduction and Concert Allegro', composed in 1853 and dedicated to Johannes Brahms, we have completed our editions of Schumann's works for piano and orchestra. The famous Piano Concerto in...

Schumann began work on the Toccata op. 7 when he was only 20 years old. At the time he was studying law, following his family's wishes. He did not, however, intend to have his first manuscript, entitl...

Encouraged by the success of his 'Papillons', Schumann composed his 'Intermezzi' op. 4, also known as 'longer Papillons', in 1832. Despite the at times improvisatory style, Schumann worked very carefu...

A secret engagement, a composer as prospective father-in-law and several rival publishing houses - it was against this backdrop that the work was composed. His youthful and passionate love for Ernesti...

Mazurkas, nocturnes, waltzes and polonaises constitute the core of Chopin's expressive world. However, he also moved comfortably beyond such genre cycles, and pieces of this sort are brought together...

I am endlessly looking forward to the second sonata', thus Clara wrote to Robert in 1838, 'Your whole being is so clearly expressed in it.' Nonetheless in the same letter she encouraged him to revise...